Another day, another nose bleed

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Commentary by Joseph Stockwell, D.C.

I remember his mother telling me during the consultation that her son would resemble something out of a horror movie when his nose would bleed, which was almost every day. This had happened for a few months and his shirt would be soaked with blood within seconds “just out of nowhere,” she said. There had been no success with other doctors and she was now looking at an option she was very uncomfortable with.

“They want to cauterize his nasal passages,” she said with a desperate look on her face.

“I wanted to bring him to you first and see if there is anything you can do because I don’t want them to do this.”

That’s what she said to me as Cody, 10, looked up from the corner of the room with a scared and embarrassed look on his face.

I told her that there may be another possible cause behind the nose bleeds. I explained to her that there may be subluxation of the atlas vertebra in Cody’s neck, the vertebra at the very top of the spine, that is affecting the nerves that control the blood vessels in his nose.

She was ready for anything to avoid the cauterization. So I then did what was routine for me. I examined his spinal alignment. It didn’t take long to see and feel that his spine was misaligned. When I asked him to stand in front of me, I could see that his head was tilted, his shoulders were uneven, his ribcage was twisted and when I asked him to lie on his back, one of his legs was pulled up shorter than the other.

I had Cody lie on his side and with pressure that would barely dent a marshmallow, proceeded to adjust his atlas. After about three minutes, I could see his face turn from pale to rosy red. It was then that I knew that his atlas vertebra was now aligned properly. I got him up and rechecked his spine and saw that his body had completely untwisted.

When I saw him the following week he was a different little boy. He was smiling and you could just tell that he felt much better. I asked how he was doing.

“It’s a miracle,” his mother said with tears in her eyes, “he hasn’t had a single bloody nose.”

 

Dr. Joseph Stockwell is a chiropractic physician who is the owner and clinic director of Indy’s Atlas: Chiropractic & Wellness Center in Zionsville. He can be reached at [email protected].


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